Rafael Benítez will today complete the construction of the side he hopes will challenge Chelsea for the Premiership title this season by signing Dirk Kuyt from Feyenoord for a fee of £9m.

The Holland international will sign a four-year deal worth £45,000-a-week after Liverpool successfully deflected long-standing interest from Newcastle United to tie up his arrival. Kuyt was undergoing a medical at Melwood last night ahead of completing what he has said is a "dream" move, with the 26-year-old due to be paraded as the club's sixth high-profile arrival of the summer today.

His signing means the end of a two-year pursuit by Benítez, with the Spaniard unperturbed by Kuyt's unimpressive displays for Holland during the recent World Cup finals. Instead, his reputation has been forged by 71 goals in 101 league appearances for Feyenoord after a £700,000 transfer from Utrecht, with the Rotterdam club's president Jorien van den Herik saying they had done "everything we could" to retain his services.

"For me, Liverpool is to be sure the dream club I was looking for," said Kuyt. "There was more interest from abroad, but for me there was nothing of the calibre of Liverpool, a brilliant club with an enormous reputation and fantastic, empathic support and a fabulous history. It is an honour to play for a club like that. I leave Feyenoord with mixed feelings. I experienced three great years in Rotterdam. I will always respect that, as I respect all the people at the club."

Kuyt will be Benítez's 20th major signing since assuming the reins at Anfield in 2004, involving an outlay of a little over £75m of which some £24m has been spent this summer, and adds to a reshaped strike force of Peter Crouch, Craig Bellamy and Robbie Fowler following the close season departures of Djibril Cissé and Fernando Morientes.

Yet the Dutchman's arrival will impact most on Crouch, the England striker returning from his two-goal performance against Greece in midweek to discover he faces stiff competition in the season ahead to retain his place in Liverpool's line-up. Crouch conjured 11 goals in his first season at Anfield and scored their winner in the Community Shield against Chelsea on Sunday, though he said his international goalscoring exploits would not be enough to guarantee him a place in Benítez's side.

"When you have done well, the manager at Liverpool is the first to pull you in and tell you what you could have done better," he said. "I'm sure I go into his office and he will tell me where I can improve again. That's the type of manager he is. He brings you down to earth straight away. That's because he wants you to improve and get even better. Hopefully I can do that."